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Given from the title, today will be one of debate. I have been thinking of the this topic for awhile now and to me it goes to the heart of my coaching philosophies. First, a saying that I coach by is “You are only as strong as you weakest link”. Given that the most underated player on the field should be constantly changed as your team eveloves of the course of the season or even years. For me though the most consistantly underrated football player on any team that I have coached on, which has been a lot, has to be the kicker/punter.

Now this could be one person or two people either way majority of coaching staffs never have a position coach just for the kicking game. I believe this to be a great opportunity for a any team that is looking to improve quickly. Think about it… the kicker/ punter establishes the field of play and in fact controls it. He or she, for Hnida ( who I played with in high school and yes she was a horrible kicker in hs) and all the other female kicker/ punters, are depended on to deliver in crunch time when the game is on the line and to gain valuable points in those tight games.

My past coaching experiences have entailed even coaching special teams, but more importantly the kickers. One experience was very special for me because I had these two first year players that had soccer backgrounds, but as we know kicking a football is entirley different then a soccer ball. We worked all season and they were doing pretty good. We were definitely learning as we went, but the place kicker ended up winning the final game of the season against the rivals by kicking the game winning field goal as time expired.

I also have seen how a punter and kicker can control the game even when the defense and offense are sputtering. When I was in SC coaching some minor league football, there were this place kicker and punter that were very gifted. The punter, who had tryouts with the Steelers and Bills, could kick the ball at least 70+ yards. The place kicker, who played at USC, University of South Carolina, could hit 40+ field goals consistently. So you can imagine how that punter could help the defense pin the opposing offense and then how a long range kicker could help get those points on the board in a tight game.

So the point of my ramblings are teams should focus on developing the kickers/ punters. Not just on Fridays or last day before the game, but in the off season. They are very important to the overall success of a team even when you do not have the most talented bunch. Always remember though a team of any sorts is only as strong as the weakest link.